1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems providing support for polynomial data processing operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known within data processing systems to provide some support for polynomial arithmetic. For example, it is known to provide support for polynomial arithmetic associated with Reed Solomon coding or Elliptic Curve Cryptography. One known data processing system providing such support is the digital signal processor produced by Texas Instruments as TMS320C64x. These digital signal processors provide an instruction to perform the operation:a=b*c mod p (where b is 32-bits and c is 9-bits), and
where p is held in a special 32-bit register (GPLYA or GPLYB)
This known form of polynomial instruction yields the remainder portion of a polynomial multiplication providing good support for Reed Solomon coding. It is not suited to other forms of polynomial data processing, such as that associated with signal scrambling or the calculation of transmission codes.
It is also known to provide special purpose hardware for the purpose of signal scrambling or generating transmission codes. Such special purpose hardware can be provided in a form capable of performing the necessary calculations at high speed, but has the disadvantage of consuming significant circuit resource for this dedicated function as well as being relatively inflexible and illsuited to reuse and/or modification.